LAND VALUATION APPEAL

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26511, 28 August 1951, Page 5

LAND VALUATION APPEAL

FARM TAKEN BY GOVERNMENT

COURT RESERVES DECISION

The Crown (Mr W. S. Kent) appealed against the allowance of £B4Bl for a property taken over by the Government from Andrew Grant, a farmer of Fairlie (Mr C. S. Thomas) at a sitting of the Land Valuation Court yesterday. The appeal was made against the decision of the South Canterbury Land Valuation Committee, which had approved the allowance at Timaru on April 27. The Court consisted of Judge K. G. Archer, and Messrs A. H. McClintock and W. N. McLauchlin. The original claim was for £7557, but had been amended to £B4Bl. The Crown budgeted the value of the property at £6226. The Court reserved its decision.

Mr Kent submitted that the carrying capacity estimated had been too high, and the estimated death rate was too low. The wages also were too low. There were certain deficiencies on the property, said Mr Kent. There were no buildings, and there was no winter feed. It was claimed that there should be about £2OO worth on the property. Ernest William Travers, a field inspector for the Lands and Survey Department, said he had prepared a budget valuation for a block of land comprising 628 acres and part of the Allendale estate. He considered that the mixed farm method would give the best results. He estimated that about half of the property was downs land, and the other half flat. It was considered that the downs land would carry three ewes to the acre, except on the area used for cropping. The flat land, which was stony in places, would carry one ewe to the acre. Forty head of cattle were also carried. The wheat yield was estimated to be between 39 and 40 bushels to the acre, and the oat yield, 64 bushels to the acre, said witness. James Woodhead, a farmer, had budgeted for a carrying capacity of 1250 ewes. Witness said that he thought that figure was above the carrying capacity of the land. The portion of Allendale still occupied by Grant was 2596 acres. Of this 1300 acres were downs land. Mr Thomas said that the property taken over by the Government from Grant, was now being farmed by Walter Frederick John Eggleton. Evidence Heard

Andrew Grant said he had taken over the property in 1919. The land was in very poor condition and for the first few years, the wheat crops had not been good. Since he had improved the land he had not had yields of less than 50 bushels to the acre. The biggest yield had been 74 bushels and his highest yield of oats was 98 bushels to the acre. This crop had beentaken off the block taken by the Government. . He had always kept a large number of cattle and he approved the practice of breeding rather than buying, said witness. At one stage he had put 3000 tons of lime on his whole property. James Woodhead said he had had wide experience in farm appraising. He did not think that Fairlie was an attractive wheat growing district, and he thought that the block should be farmed as a pastoral unit To Mr Kent witness said that when he had first valued he considered the property to be worth £7557. There lad been a mistake in his adding up of the figures and the figure had then been amended to £B4Bl. At the time he had considered that the figure of £7557 was a fair value. To Judge Archer witness said he would have been perfectly satisfied if the valuation had been £lO,OOO. Mr Thomas said that the real essence of the case was the two policies; one put forward by the witness Woodhead, and the other by the Crown. “On the face of the evidence and Mr Grant’s views, I must accept that mixed farming is the basis which has to be taken,” said Mr Thomas. This was not only opinion but the practice which had been carried out. If the policy put forward by the Crown in its budget was taken, the yields on which the budget was based were too low. If the budget put in by Mr Woodhead was examined it would not be very far away from the Crown valuation, said Mr Kent. The carrying capacity was too high for the place, le said.